Crazy in Poughkeepsie

I'm not sure if Pinkwater books are really plot dependent; the point seems to be silly event after silly event, interspersed with odd characters and ridiculous anecdotes. You could say that books like The Hoboken Chicken Emergency (1977) or The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death (1982) were the Wimpy Kid books of a previous generation in this regard, although Pinkwater stays true to his stream-of-consciousness, wacky style. Mick's interactions with Guru Lumpo Smythe-Finkel, Vern Chuckoff, and the Dwergish Molly (whose background is not well explained, but merely hinted at) are the primary focus of this unusual adventure.

Pinkwater, at 80, remains steadfast in his style, and even manages to give a vintage flair to most of the book. The car of choice is 1958 Buick Limited Convertible handed down from a grandfather, there's a Gooble Gobble Country Kitchen, and a shout out to circuses, which I suspect Pinkwater wanted to feature more prominently in the book, but instead acknowledges that these are more of a relic of the past.

Aaron Renier does a great job at capturing the feel of Pinkwater's (and later his wife Jill's) illustrations; sort of like a twelve year old was given a Flair pen and a pile of Mad magazines, and told to illustrate the book while sitting on a plaid couch in a basement rec room with incense burning. There is a lot of humorous detail in the pictures, and a retro feel to the clothing and settings that goes along quite well with Pinkwater's writing.

The new millienium has brought a lot of changes in middle grade literature, with more books tending to harken back to the 1950s in their level of didactism about all manner of issues, and fewer books exhibiting a good sense of humor and lightheatedness. Pinkwater is the pastmaster of the goofy, and stays true to form with his newest adventure.